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Monday, 26 December 2016

A Christmas Eve hiccup

Christmas Eve arrived and it was a lovely cool day. As we weren't expecting any visitors for Christmas the plan was to just make a potato salad and the traditional pavlova (as requested) later on in the day as the rest of the salads could be made up quickly before lunch the following day. So armed with my little point and shoot camera I took a walk through the very dry garden hoping to find a little bit of colour scattered here and there.

I was happy to find this burgundy coloured daisy flowering happily and liking its new home as I brought a cutting of this back from Mt.Isa as it looks quite stunning in my girl's garden. I would love a name for it though but Mr.Google couldn't help out with that.

He also couldn't help with the name of this very pretty plant but if Guida
is reading this she will remind me once again. I have searched online
but still can't find any photos of it there. It is very pretty but
unfortunately these pretty shapes are growing underneath the leaves so
they are hard to see.

This little fellow is very tiny but came out well when I took a photo using the Macro setting.

There are only a couple of Fuschia flowers at the moment. I think I need to pay more attention to my potted plants and give them some TLC.

At least the Hydrangeas don't need much TLC and are always a delight at this time of the year.

Other hardy plants that seem to thrive on neglect are the Day Lilies that spring up every year and add a little colour to the summer garden.

The recent week of heatwave conditions didn't do the garden any favours and it looks like we will see the New Year in with another heatwave at the weekend. I might have to move to Tasmania at this rate.

I think this orchid might be called an Oncidium. I am not all that keen on the colours but it is growing well on the macadamia tree which the CEO has decided to put a huge compost heap underneath. We have a few such heaps around the place.

Speaking of compost heaps, it is amazing what grows there like this Tamarillo tree which is probably the orange version which the CEO doesn't like and is trying to get rid of. I dare say it will disappear one of these days. When I was eating sugar I used to make a nice Indian Spiced Tamarillo Chutney so they came in handy. They aren't cheap to buy and I think they are over $1 each but I believe the red ones have a nicer flavour.

I took a photo of this cucumber to remind myself that I actually do have some veggies growing and am not a completely dreadful gardener. It seems that every seedling I have had growing this year has been eaten by something so actually having a couple of cucumbers get to this stage is quite an accomplishment this year.

Mind you, if Hildegarde and her cronies didn't keep scratching around in the garden more plants might survive but I am still waiting for the new chicken pen to be built which it doesn't look like will be happening soon. It's unbelieveable how much damage chooks can do.

Anyway, after I had a casual walk around the garden taking photos I thought I had better brave the shops as they would be quieter after lunch and I needed to pick up some fresh milk etc. as I don't buy the long life stuff. So there I was doing everything according to plan and was nearly finished with the shopping when my hip went 'out' and I had to limp around the supermarket hanging on to the trolley as I tried to make my way to the checkout.

However, I got home and limped up the stairs and headed for the bed. There I lay thinking of the two loaves of sourdough that were ready for the second rise, the potato salad that had to be cooked not to mention the pavlova which takes twenty minutes of beating with the hand held beater. A slight hiccup in the scheme of things but eventually it got done. Just one of the joys of getting older :-) I am not sure where my hip went to when it went 'out' but I sure wish it would come home again.

28 comments:

I love your garden photos so much. It is like having those flowers and critters right here. I am sure that my actual growing a garden myself are over and then I come here and just immerse myself in the lushness and beauty with which you surround yourself.

I do hope your hip comes back in again soon! It's not a nice thing to hurt when you move around. I always find a forced slow down like that a little maddening as it will always happen when there's much to do:( I tried something different with pavlova this year ... instead of beating in sugar a bit at a time, I made a raw sugar meringue where the eggwhite and sugar is heated gently in bowl over hot water. Once sugar dissolved then you beat it till fluffy. It worked just fine:)

Meg it is coming good thankfully. Glad you had success with your pav. I always make the Easy Two Egg Pavlova feom an old Womens Weekly cookbook and it always turns out well and seems to be foolproof. Everything is beaten together so nothing has to be added gradually.

Oh bugger. Well you did at least have a nice walk and photography session around your yard. Love your insect one. I am trying to take photos of insects around here to discover who is "naughty or nice" so I can evict the naughty ones! New properties have enough of their own soil and climate challenges without predatory bugs. The hens help me with disposal of snails and slugs :).Cheers, RobynLouise

Hope your hip is feeling better by now, at least if you have to rest up and take it easy the cool weather is better for sitting about crafting, reading or watching movies. Your hydrangeas look lovely and the fuschias reminded me I used to have them in hanging baskets out on the deck ,they were so pretty, I must get some more.

Hi Nanna Chel, I hope your hip is much better now. Your garden looks lovely. I love hydrangeas, but they are too thirsty for me at this place, maybe the new place will be better. The plant is called "parrot plant" and it is an Impatiens. Yours looks lovely, ours is quite tall now and it loves lots of water too, oh well. Take care of yourself. Guida

Thank you so much Guida. I was hoping you would read the post and tell me the name. I will write it down so I remember. My hip is still painful but hopefully it will come good soon. It usually rights itself in a couple of days thankfully.

That's a lovely daisy - it looks like an African Daisy (osteospermum) perhaps? Once you have a decent sized bush, may I have a cutting please? At present I only have the white ones with the black centres that I have grown from seed but a lovely dark one like that would be a knockout. So nice to have things pop up without too much attention, alway a lovely surprise. Hope you hip improves quickly would be very difficult with the stairs I imagine. I've given up on my garden for the time being, not here enough and the heat just knocks everything.

Sure thing, Barb. I would put the daisy in the ground as it would grow better then but the chooks are digging everything up. They even got into a pot of ginger DH had planted and he is still looking for the ginger :-) I hate to tell you but it is going up to 36C here at the weekend and will be hotter for you. Can hardly wait :-(

You poor thing Chel; not a convenient time for your hip to 'go out'! Hope it's 'behaving' somewhat better by now. Your garden has some delightful flowers out and congratulations of getting some cucumbers on your plant, despite those pesky creatures eating your plants. The heat is certainly playing havoc with our gardens isn't it?

I probably should look into going to a chiro one of these days, Liz and I will if it happens more frequently. So far it only goes out a couple of times a year. No we only had a short shower on Christmas Day unlike elsewhere apparently.

I'm glad you managed to get all the special dishes made in the end. I know how you feel! I have the worse shoulder and neck pain and I just can't seem to sort it out. It's horrible. I really do hope this is only a short term issues. Best Wishes and Merry Christmas.

Zena, I hope you get better soon. When my neck aches I rub on some Karma Rub which is liquid magnesium. It was recommended to me by a shop assistant at the chemist for restless legs and various aches and pains and it works.

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